IRVINE, Calif. – Feb. 26, 2008 – Georgia reported 10,665 foreclosure filings in January, the sixth highest total in the nation for the month. The state total represents a 39 percent increase in foreclosure activity from the previous month and is 28 percent ahead of the total reported for January 2007, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. The state’s foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 354 households was 1.5 times the national average, ranking it seventh highest among the 50 states.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“January’s increase was just the latest of many dramatic increases in foreclosure activity Georgia has experienced in the past year or so. By contrast, the monthly decreases we’ve seen during the same time period have paled in comparison,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Unemployment remains at around the national average, but home sales numbers are down as are home prices, all keeping foreclosure activity above the level reported a year ago every month.”

Foreclosure activity in the PeachState barely trailed behind fifth place Michigan which reported 10,746 foreclosure filings for January. The state total was far behind national leader California with 57,158 foreclosure filings reported and second ranked Florida which reported 30,178 foreclosure filings for the month. Texas came in third with 14,698 foreclosure filings, followed by Ohio in fourth place with 12,785 foreclosure filings. The remaining states in the nation’s top 10 for total foreclosure filings in January were Arizona, Massachusetts, Illinois and Colorado.

FultonCounty tops in foreclosure filings for January

Reporting 1,910 foreclosure filings for January, FultonCounty led all counties in foreclosure activity. DekalbCounty came in second, reporting 1,217 foreclosure filings for the month. GwinnettCounty was third highest with a total of 1,202 filings. CobbCounty reported 783 filings, the fourth highest in the state, followed by fifth ranked ClaytonCounty with 762 filings entering some stage of the foreclosure pipeline. The five top counties accounted for 55 percent of all foreclosure filings in the state for the month.

Clayton posts state’s highest foreclosure rate for the month

ClaytonCounty posted the highest foreclosure rate in the state for January, one foreclosure filing for every 134 households — 2.6 times the state average and four times the national average. HenryCounty registered the second highest foreclosure rate in the state, one foreclosure filing for every 148 households — 2.4 times the state average and 3.6 times the national average. Third highest rate was reported in RockdaleCounty, one foreclosure filing for every 156 households — 2.3 times the state average and 3.4 times the national average. DouglasCounty came in fourth with a rate of one foreclosure filing for every 163 households, followed by WaltonCounty in fifth place with a rate of one foreclosure filing for every 196 households.

State a significant contributor to nation’s total in January

Total foreclosure filings in Georgia accounted for 5 percent of the 223,001 foreclosure filings reported nationwide in January. The national total represents an 8 percent increase from the previous month, and is 57 percent above the total reported for January 2007. The nation’s foreclosure rate increased to one foreclosure filing for every 534 U.S. households for the month.

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of foreclosure filings — both nationwide and by state — over the preceding month. RealtyTrac’s report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Defaults — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auctions — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new homes, with more than 1.3 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit (www.realtytrac.com).

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.